Why does MSE sometimes turn itself off?

I have Microsoft Security Essentials on most of my multiboot Windows installations. I usually leave a system on standby, and only reboot when I need to change OSs.

I am surprised at the number of times I need to turn on MSE. Is it the standby that turns it off and why does it not restart itself?

I don't recall AVG turning itself off without warning.

I also do not recall opting into SpyNet - yet apparently, MSE has enrolled me as a basic member - what do other user's think of this? Do you even know?

That's a very strange error, I've just put my machine to Sleep and started it up again and MSE is working as it should.

You might want to check the event log to see if there's anything untoward happening.

I know that Malware disables AV software any chance it gets so may be worth downloading MalwareBytes and running a full system scan.


OS

fafhrd said:

I am surprised at the number of times I need to turn on MSE. Is it the standby that turns it off and why does it not restart itself?

I notice that you are using a Netbook, On my friends netbook, MSE can take a while to switch itself on, because of the relatively slow processor. Might be worth waiting a little while (I have seen it take up to 5 minutes) to see if it sorts itself out.

Of course a malware scan is always a good idea anyway just in case, but you may not have a problem.

I also do not recall opting into SpyNet - yet apparently, MSE has enrolled me as a basic member - what do other user's think of this? Do you even know?

On MSE 1.* you didn't even get a choice. You had to have at least basic membership. With 2 though at least you now do have the option, although it will automatically sign you up for basic membership unless you change it. MSE does actually tell you about this when you're installing it, but most people don't bother to read it.

I get that once in a while, I'm running Comodo and occasionally it see's that MSE wants to make changes to a reg key or a system file. If I'm not around to click the OK button, then I get the warning that MSE is off and needs to be turned on.

I've seen some other posts in places where MSE shuts off when they system goes into standby, or doesn't finish the scan.

Why does MSE stop when computer goes into standby (slee) - Microsoft Answers

Thanks for all your replies.

All I can find is this unhelpful entry in the action center/maintenance/reliability/problems list:


MSE started up again (manually) with no complaint and has been working ever since, so I'll tick it off for now.

This little Packard Bell dot se budget model is remarkably usable, despite being a netbook. The keyboard is better than my main laptop.

It takes around 25 seconds for the MSE real time protection (i.e. red>green) to kick in after being manually re-enabled.

I have had no malware detected after a 14:18 minute MBAM scan - I get so few intrusions, on any of my systems, I must be doing something right :)

it see's that MSE wants to make changes to a reg key or a system file.

So Comodo turns off MSE to protect the system? I wonder what MSE is actually doing? I don't run any other AV than MSE. I used AVG in the past, but the last update put me off for life, once I had rebuilt the system I had installed it on!